Wednesday, June 25, 2008

As the saying goes, "If you want to dance, you've got to pay the piper."

Being in the retail business I recently received a notice of a dealer price increase from one vender. "Hmmm", I thought, I had just received our new dealer prices a few months back. Most of the new gear for this year hasn't even shipped yet and already there is an unprecedented rise in dealer cost.

Is the cause fuel prices dramatically going up? A weaker dollar against the Euro and Yen? Are skyrocketing metal prices driving the increase? Actually all 3 reasons were cited in the notice as the cause for the sharp rise in gear prices.

Add higher gear prices to the rapidly escalating costs to drive or fly and it's going to be a lot tougher for many hunters and fishermen to make many trips this year. I see talk of carpools already on many fishing and hunting forums, something you just didn't see much of a year ago. I've already scaled back some plans for trips this summer and fall myself.

Some are taking it to the extreme to save fuel and money by Hypermiling. These folks use a method of increasing their car's gas mileage by making skillful changes in the way they drive, allowing them to save gas. Some of their methods make sense but some are downright dangerous like shutting off their ignition when coming to stops. You're power steering and brakes do not work with the key off and you're just asking for disaster in doing that.

Another change I see is the large SUVs are getting traded in or parked in favor of smaller more fuel efficient vehicles. The days of fully loaded down Suburbans and 3/4 ton pickups seem to be numbered. I drive a Dodge Quad Cab diesel truck and it's killing me to fill up, neary $160 for a tank of gas here in SoCal. I get around 19 MPG but I have to wonder what the poor guy or gal who owns an RV that gets 5 MPG is gonna do. Tough times and tough decisions coming for all of us.

What changes are you trying to stretch those precious pennies? How is the price of fuel and travel affecting your plans for this year?

3 comments:

I've had my Dodge 2500 parked out by the road for two months with a for sale sign on it. Not a single phone call yet. I'm thinking people aren't in the market for buying pickups these days. I know I'll be driving my little car out in the mountains this fall.

Luckily, Boyfriend and I both drive vehicles with good gas mileage - his 2000 Tacoma, my 2002 Rav4. They've been good enough for the kind of hunting we do - I can fit dekes, guns and game cart in my Rav and still have room for another hunter. No room for dogs - but we don't plan to get a dog for some time anyway...